Life just got interesting. So interesting I need a time machine or that time-mover-thingie Hermione had that allowed her to attend two classes at once. Maybe two of them.
My new job keeps me in a sitting position for a good five hours. My writing job is a sitting job. Paperwork for running a house is a sitting job. So is cooking; when I'm cutting veggies and meat, I'm usually at my dining room table (because my kitchen is small, it's hard to stand at the tiny counter and not get knocked over).
In other words, most of my day is spent on my duff. I need to get to the gym regularly. But by the time I find some time, the day is almost over.
Where did the time go?
I sat down and made a mock-up of my day, allotting 168 hours a week. Even I was surprised at how little time I had to do anything but work. Driving work. Housework. Writing work. Homemaker work. There's a difference between housework and Homemaker work. Housework is cleaning, Homemaker work involves wife and mom stuff, a lot of paperwork and errands including appointment making and keeping, as well as budgeting and food shopping.
I need a time machine- and an at-home gym. And an attachment to the house to put them in. Sigh.
I went to the gym once last week. Once. Had a great workout, but was a starved Tasmanian Devil by the time I got home. My kids and the cats hid from me until I got something to eat.
To lose weight, I need to eat good food, less of it, and exercise. Two out of three won't cut it anymore.
I'm maintaining. That's good for now, but I can't be this weight forever. I don't want to be this weight forever!
Now it's a matter of balancing work, home, and writing- not an easy task. That's like juggling a bowling ball, and egg, and an elephant blindfolded. Wonder-Woman I ain't. And she doesn't even have kids! So why am I trying to do everything?
Lessons Learned:
I am not Wonder Woman. I need to do a lot, but I don't have to do everything.
Have the kids help make dinner. They need to learn to cook anyway- and it saves time too!
Make a list (yes another one!) for the kids concerning chores and dinner prep. They can do a few things after school to help out more.
Schedule gym time. If you don't, you'll never get there.
Schedule breaks in the day. At least one. Burning out is not going to anyone any good.
Tweak work hours. The job is flexible- take advantage of that.
Pack breakfast and a snack. One or the other just won't do anymore- especially if you're going to the gym right after work.
No, I'm not Wonder Woman. I need time to breathe as well as drive, write, and manage a household. I've been tweaking the schedule for weeks now, but until I actually put the hours on paper, it never dawned on me just how much I was doing- and not doing.
I also need to be listening to God. I'm reading a great book called The Best Yes, and though I'm only half way through it, it's already helped me get my ducks in a row, instead of working with a handful of feathers and duck-poo.
Wonder Woman and duck-poo. Not the kind of life I'd envisioned for myself.
The weight loss is maintained, but I need to step it up if I'm going to get thinner. Anyone want a used lasso and an American-themed bodysuit?
Monday, August 31, 2015
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Week Thirty Two: The Dear-God-It's-Coming-Together New Eating Lifestyle
I'm not 'there' yet, but I can start to see my schedule coming together. Slowly but surely, I'll figure this thing out!
Food is still an issue, since bananas aren't always the best thing to have every single morning- not when you don't have a clue where the public bathrooms are and your job is driving all morning!
Fruit still is in the running, while veggies are not. For some weird reason, fruit keeps me going while veggies make me hungrier. So maybe it isn't a fiber thing, it's a sugar thing. If I can't make eggs for breakfast, fruit is the next best option. As long as I have enough that I'm not a starved piranha by the time my shift is over!
Water in the am is also an issue, for the same reasons. And both issues make it hard to go to the gym right after work- it's not good to be hungry and dehydrated whilst using the gym machines- skinny people might get eaten!
Okay, so the gym has water. Still working out whether I'd be better off eating lunch then go to the gym, or just taking a little extra with me to temper the hungries. Going to test out those theories this week and see what happens.
Lunch and dinners have been a bit heavier than I like calorie-wise, and I really need to watch myself before bad habits return. I bought a lot of green veggies this week, and I plan on 'salading it up' during lunch. That might just balance things a bit better- especially if the salad has some protein in it, like a boiled egg or some chicken.
I might be losing weight, but sitting in a van all morning isn't going to tone anything. I have to fit the gym into my day somehow, and my best bet is to do it before I get home. Home means rest (sorta), and once I'm in the door, I probably won't want to leave again!
The morning schedule is finished. Get up, take hubby to work, do my shift, come home before lunch. Except now I might try the gym before going home, and have lunch after I walk in the door. I'm still not sure how the rest of the day will work out, but at least half my day is planned!
Unfortunately since I started this new job, I still have am appointments for me and the kids for checkups. Most don't need rescheduling as they are on the cusp of the end of my shift, so I can work around that. But the ones that aren't are also the ones that were hard to get (of course!), so I have to make up those hours later on in the week. An new appointments will be done in the afternoons from now on!
Menu planning is on the list. You'd think crock-potting would be preferable, but I'd have to be up before the crack of dark to cut the veggies and prep the meat before going to work. I'm already up at 4:30, and that's early enough, thank you! Maybe a quicker crock-pot dinner if I came home and everything was defrosted first? Maybe. Either way meat needs to be taken out and defrosted in the am- or in the fridge the night before. But that requires brain function I usually don't have at night. Most morning people are zombies by 8pm. I am one of them.
As for the housework, writing, and crafting? I'll fit it in somewhere. I just need to get the basics down first!
Lessons Learned:
Plan menus at least twice a week so you don't have 'whatever' dinners consisting of leftovers and junk.
Plan appointments for after your shift to avoid loss of wages and make-up hours.
Plan time to clean before the dust bunnies get you.
Plan time to write- the more books you publish, the less driving you need to do!
Plan fun together- so no one else can take that precious time away from you and your family!
Plan rest breaks. Even God took a day off!
Now all I need to do? Plan time to make all of these plans!
Food is still an issue, since bananas aren't always the best thing to have every single morning- not when you don't have a clue where the public bathrooms are and your job is driving all morning!
Fruit still is in the running, while veggies are not. For some weird reason, fruit keeps me going while veggies make me hungrier. So maybe it isn't a fiber thing, it's a sugar thing. If I can't make eggs for breakfast, fruit is the next best option. As long as I have enough that I'm not a starved piranha by the time my shift is over!
Water in the am is also an issue, for the same reasons. And both issues make it hard to go to the gym right after work- it's not good to be hungry and dehydrated whilst using the gym machines- skinny people might get eaten!
Okay, so the gym has water. Still working out whether I'd be better off eating lunch then go to the gym, or just taking a little extra with me to temper the hungries. Going to test out those theories this week and see what happens.
Lunch and dinners have been a bit heavier than I like calorie-wise, and I really need to watch myself before bad habits return. I bought a lot of green veggies this week, and I plan on 'salading it up' during lunch. That might just balance things a bit better- especially if the salad has some protein in it, like a boiled egg or some chicken.
I might be losing weight, but sitting in a van all morning isn't going to tone anything. I have to fit the gym into my day somehow, and my best bet is to do it before I get home. Home means rest (sorta), and once I'm in the door, I probably won't want to leave again!
The morning schedule is finished. Get up, take hubby to work, do my shift, come home before lunch. Except now I might try the gym before going home, and have lunch after I walk in the door. I'm still not sure how the rest of the day will work out, but at least half my day is planned!
Unfortunately since I started this new job, I still have am appointments for me and the kids for checkups. Most don't need rescheduling as they are on the cusp of the end of my shift, so I can work around that. But the ones that aren't are also the ones that were hard to get (of course!), so I have to make up those hours later on in the week. An new appointments will be done in the afternoons from now on!
Menu planning is on the list. You'd think crock-potting would be preferable, but I'd have to be up before the crack of dark to cut the veggies and prep the meat before going to work. I'm already up at 4:30, and that's early enough, thank you! Maybe a quicker crock-pot dinner if I came home and everything was defrosted first? Maybe. Either way meat needs to be taken out and defrosted in the am- or in the fridge the night before. But that requires brain function I usually don't have at night. Most morning people are zombies by 8pm. I am one of them.
As for the housework, writing, and crafting? I'll fit it in somewhere. I just need to get the basics down first!
Lessons Learned:
Plan menus at least twice a week so you don't have 'whatever' dinners consisting of leftovers and junk.
Plan appointments for after your shift to avoid loss of wages and make-up hours.
Plan time to clean before the dust bunnies get you.
Plan time to write- the more books you publish, the less driving you need to do!
Plan fun together- so no one else can take that precious time away from you and your family!
Plan rest breaks. Even God took a day off!
Now all I need to do? Plan time to make all of these plans!
Monday, August 17, 2015
Week Thirty One: The Dear-God-I'm-Taking-Baby-Steps New Eating Lifestyle
The plateau is broken!
It's not a huge weight loss. In fact, it's rather small for the time I've been getting back on track. But it's an important weight loss.
The 292 pound plateau is broken. The 291.5 record is broken. I am now a svelte 288 pounds!
My new job helps. I drive first thing in the morning after dropping off my husband for work, so I take a banana with me to stem the hungries. By the time I get home, it's lunchtime, and I don't need as much food to feel full. The down side is I don't have time to log everything (or I forget to).
But what about the title? What baby steps? Well, my nutritionist has told me that we will no longer be having monthly meetings, since I no longer need them as often. At first this was a blow- I looked forward to meeting regularly, even though we didn't have much to go over anymore, and she had a working scale. It was my safe zone, and I was becoming too dependent on those visits- and she knew it.
It was time to step out on my own. Egad.
That's also why the weight loss has slowed. I'm learning to do it on my own again, but this time, I have the tools I need to succeed.
I found a place with an accurate scale at my husband's workplace. Okay, okay, it's a freight scale, but if the skinny people can weigh themselves, so can I! It's not a 'fat' thing at this point- it's an 'accurate weight measuring' thing.
The weight loss is slow. Very slow. But I'm still losing- and that's all that matters. it took me years to get this big, so it'll take a few more years to get it off. I don't need to have all the weight lost right this second. Baby steps not only with what I eat, but exercise as well, and getting that schedule fixed so I can do as much as possible without burning out.
It isn't easy!
Lessons learned:
Bananas are really good as a travel snack- as long as you have a plastic baggie to stuff the skin in when you're done and still on the road.
Coming home hungry and thirsty can be a good thing- as long as you have a big glass of water first, then eat.
Slow weight loss is still a loss!
I have no idea how long this journey will take, but I feel thinner and more energetic each day. The hardest part isn't the eating and portion control anymore- it's getting the schedule right!
It's not a huge weight loss. In fact, it's rather small for the time I've been getting back on track. But it's an important weight loss.
The 292 pound plateau is broken. The 291.5 record is broken. I am now a svelte 288 pounds!
My new job helps. I drive first thing in the morning after dropping off my husband for work, so I take a banana with me to stem the hungries. By the time I get home, it's lunchtime, and I don't need as much food to feel full. The down side is I don't have time to log everything (or I forget to).
But what about the title? What baby steps? Well, my nutritionist has told me that we will no longer be having monthly meetings, since I no longer need them as often. At first this was a blow- I looked forward to meeting regularly, even though we didn't have much to go over anymore, and she had a working scale. It was my safe zone, and I was becoming too dependent on those visits- and she knew it.
It was time to step out on my own. Egad.
That's also why the weight loss has slowed. I'm learning to do it on my own again, but this time, I have the tools I need to succeed.
I found a place with an accurate scale at my husband's workplace. Okay, okay, it's a freight scale, but if the skinny people can weigh themselves, so can I! It's not a 'fat' thing at this point- it's an 'accurate weight measuring' thing.
The weight loss is slow. Very slow. But I'm still losing- and that's all that matters. it took me years to get this big, so it'll take a few more years to get it off. I don't need to have all the weight lost right this second. Baby steps not only with what I eat, but exercise as well, and getting that schedule fixed so I can do as much as possible without burning out.
It isn't easy!
Lessons learned:
Bananas are really good as a travel snack- as long as you have a plastic baggie to stuff the skin in when you're done and still on the road.
Coming home hungry and thirsty can be a good thing- as long as you have a big glass of water first, then eat.
Slow weight loss is still a loss!
I have no idea how long this journey will take, but I feel thinner and more energetic each day. The hardest part isn't the eating and portion control anymore- it's getting the schedule right!
Monday, August 10, 2015
Week Thirty: The Dear-God-My-Schedule-Is-A-Hot-Mess New Eating Lifestyle
Egad, it's week thirty already??
I managed to snag a doctor's scale when I took my kids for a checkup, and I've maintained. I'd be sad, but I ate like a starved piranha for the past two weeks, and behaved for most of the week this week, both in eating and exercising. So it's all good to me!
Yet there's another facet to this life which I must get accustomed to. Working. Not that I haven't been working as a wife, mother and writer, but it was time to start working a job that actually pays some fundage other than hugs and appreciative murmurs of content at dinnertime. Bills have to get paid, and my husband's overtime just isn't what it used to be.
Oh no, oh no, it's off to work I go!
The morning gym routine is squashed because that's when I work. I eat breakfast after I get home around 10:00 am (I'm working for a driving company), so there's a big gap between dinner and breakfast since I'm up at the crack of dark (that's 4:30- and the 'crack' part is me stubbing my dang toe in the dark.)
Get up, make the hubster breakfast (I take thyroid meds so I can't eat for an hour after I take it), take him to work, go to work, come home and eat. But I was prepared and took a banana with me- just in case the hungries got me.
I ate my banana on the way home and as we speak, I'm good. I might just have a piece of fruit in the mornings when I drive. It's almost lunch time and I'm not starving like I thought I'd be!
This was my first day on the job, and I did well. Now I just have to tweak my schedule so I can still get some fat burning in sometime during the day. It might be easier when the kids are back in school. We'll see.
Lessons learned:
Semi-pigging out and then behaving might let you get lucky in weight loss once in a while, but what would you have lost had you not ate so much?
Planning to take a banana with you was the best idea on busy mornings.
Come up with a plan to do at least some fat burning cardio at least three times a week. Especially after a four hour driving shift!
Look up some crockpot recipes for those days that are too hectic to 'cook'- and make sure you have all the ingredients!
Lifestyle changes along with dietary changes can make life a hot mess. But planning ahead, knowing your body, and tweaking schedules is something that needs to be done constantly in order to keep the mess at bay. Or at least most of it!
I don't like change. I like a steady schedule. So when things like this happen, it drives me straight up the wall, over the ceiling, and hangs me upside-down from the ceiling fan. I don't like it, but it's life, so I need to get used to it- otherwise life stops being interesting. And fun.
And if this job is going to be as busy as I think it is, I need more bananas!
I managed to snag a doctor's scale when I took my kids for a checkup, and I've maintained. I'd be sad, but I ate like a starved piranha for the past two weeks, and behaved for most of the week this week, both in eating and exercising. So it's all good to me!
Yet there's another facet to this life which I must get accustomed to. Working. Not that I haven't been working as a wife, mother and writer, but it was time to start working a job that actually pays some fundage other than hugs and appreciative murmurs of content at dinnertime. Bills have to get paid, and my husband's overtime just isn't what it used to be.
Oh no, oh no, it's off to work I go!
The morning gym routine is squashed because that's when I work. I eat breakfast after I get home around 10:00 am (I'm working for a driving company), so there's a big gap between dinner and breakfast since I'm up at the crack of dark (that's 4:30- and the 'crack' part is me stubbing my dang toe in the dark.)
Get up, make the hubster breakfast (I take thyroid meds so I can't eat for an hour after I take it), take him to work, go to work, come home and eat. But I was prepared and took a banana with me- just in case the hungries got me.
I ate my banana on the way home and as we speak, I'm good. I might just have a piece of fruit in the mornings when I drive. It's almost lunch time and I'm not starving like I thought I'd be!
This was my first day on the job, and I did well. Now I just have to tweak my schedule so I can still get some fat burning in sometime during the day. It might be easier when the kids are back in school. We'll see.
Lessons learned:
Semi-pigging out and then behaving might let you get lucky in weight loss once in a while, but what would you have lost had you not ate so much?
Planning to take a banana with you was the best idea on busy mornings.
Come up with a plan to do at least some fat burning cardio at least three times a week. Especially after a four hour driving shift!
Look up some crockpot recipes for those days that are too hectic to 'cook'- and make sure you have all the ingredients!
Lifestyle changes along with dietary changes can make life a hot mess. But planning ahead, knowing your body, and tweaking schedules is something that needs to be done constantly in order to keep the mess at bay. Or at least most of it!
I don't like change. I like a steady schedule. So when things like this happen, it drives me straight up the wall, over the ceiling, and hangs me upside-down from the ceiling fan. I don't like it, but it's life, so I need to get used to it- otherwise life stops being interesting. And fun.
And if this job is going to be as busy as I think it is, I need more bananas!
Monday, August 3, 2015
Week Twenty Nine: The Dear-God-I-Survived! New Eating Lifestyle
I have no idea if I gained weight or lost it. All I know is I survived this week!
I went to a writer's conference this week, and after all that baking the two weeks prior, I was tired. Beat. Drained. And that was before the conference.
The lunches and dinners started out well, but progressively got more junky by the end of the week. The menu started out with roast chicken and green beans and ended up with a processed chicken burger as my meal. All in all, I did eat a lot, but I also walked a lot. I was up before dawn and back home at dark. I didn't even think of journaling my food, or I would've never gotten to sleep!
The conference was a blast, and I made some new contacts and some new friends. A few people who met me last year saw that I lost weight- bonus! I even managed to fit into those student chairs a bit better, though the curve of the seat caused a suction effect that I could've done without- but it makes for good storytelling!
Lessons learned? I could have eaten less. That's it. I did the fruit and veggie thing for snacks, but I also did the cheese and cracker thing, and had a little homemade pound cake as well. I ate when I was hungry, and I ate when it was time to eat.
But there is a second lesson learned. Sometimes when life is just too darned busy, you need to stop logging every morsel for a few days and see how well you do without it. Especially when you're running all day long and this isn't your 'normal'. The trick is to get back to 'normal' as soon as possible, and not let a few days off from journaling derail your progress!
P.S. I am exceeding glad that the faculty at the conference ate every scrap of the pound cakes my husband made- the vanilla was just too good with strawberries, and the chocolate-chocolate chip pound cake was addictive! I was glad I had a lot of classes to attend when that stuff was out. Seriously.
Today I went to the gym, and am back to food and exercise journaling. All I need now is to weigh-in to see where I'm restarting!
I went to a writer's conference this week, and after all that baking the two weeks prior, I was tired. Beat. Drained. And that was before the conference.
The lunches and dinners started out well, but progressively got more junky by the end of the week. The menu started out with roast chicken and green beans and ended up with a processed chicken burger as my meal. All in all, I did eat a lot, but I also walked a lot. I was up before dawn and back home at dark. I didn't even think of journaling my food, or I would've never gotten to sleep!
The conference was a blast, and I made some new contacts and some new friends. A few people who met me last year saw that I lost weight- bonus! I even managed to fit into those student chairs a bit better, though the curve of the seat caused a suction effect that I could've done without- but it makes for good storytelling!
Lessons learned? I could have eaten less. That's it. I did the fruit and veggie thing for snacks, but I also did the cheese and cracker thing, and had a little homemade pound cake as well. I ate when I was hungry, and I ate when it was time to eat.
But there is a second lesson learned. Sometimes when life is just too darned busy, you need to stop logging every morsel for a few days and see how well you do without it. Especially when you're running all day long and this isn't your 'normal'. The trick is to get back to 'normal' as soon as possible, and not let a few days off from journaling derail your progress!
P.S. I am exceeding glad that the faculty at the conference ate every scrap of the pound cakes my husband made- the vanilla was just too good with strawberries, and the chocolate-chocolate chip pound cake was addictive! I was glad I had a lot of classes to attend when that stuff was out. Seriously.
Today I went to the gym, and am back to food and exercise journaling. All I need now is to weigh-in to see where I'm restarting!
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